November 4, 2016

Post Samsung halted production of its Note 7 handsets and said it was scrapping the 4.3 million handsets it had already manufactured,the market for smartphones specially the Phablets phone have opened up. As smartphone sales mature and reach reasonable volumes with lower churn rates, with users not changing their smartphones as frequently as they used too 2 to 3 years ago,bigger size screen size will be a norm rather a exception.Meanwhile also helping matters are that OEM's and Handset makers have increasingly tried to offer a bigger and larger screen as an option,which seems to be paying off.With Samsung already facing a growing churn and growing dissatisfaction in the market and Apple reporting that it had underestimated demand for its largest model, the iPhone 7 Plus, leading to a backlog in orders.This market seemed to be wide open for a spectacular fight.Google Pixel and Huawei Mate 9 could provide a lot of choices this holiday season.However its reported that Google has locked itself into exclusive deals with single operators in the US, UK and Australia - struck before the Note 7 fiasco - which will limit sales.

Meanwhile Samsung has seen a 13% decline in its year to year smartphone sales July -September,2016 sales as compared to same time last year. Apple too has seen a 5% decline . However Samsung with 23% market share and Apple with 13% market share make up 130 million smartphones out of 360 million smartphones sold in last quarter of 2016. This means that even after selling 23% of global smartphone last quarter,It has been loosing market share compared to a year ago.

Huawei has decided to take on Samsung's might as the industry first smartphone which is competing directly with new large-screened smartphone ( 5.9 inc) in the wake of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 disaster.
Huawei new large screen smartphone called "The Mate 9" handsets are among the first to be powered by Android 7 and come in two designs: a model with a 1080p "full HD" display, and a Porsche-branded edition with nearly twice the resolution.The smartphone bears a dual rear camera setup designed in collaboration with Leica. Huawei Mate 9 smartphone will be available for sale presently in China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the UAE in the first wave of launches, with a suggested retail price of EUR 699 . Other countries will follow soon after, Huawei says. The company separately also unveiled the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 9, with a EUR 1,395 price tag. The Huawei Fit activity tracker was also launched.

According to BBC Technology Like the Note 7, Huawei's new phones also feature a "supercharging" battery technology that promises to deliver a day's worth of power within 30 minutes and a full two-day charge in 90 minutes.
The company's senior product manager, Michael Seitz, told the BBC that the system had been through a nine-month development and testing process and had been checked by an independent research lab.
"It keeps really cool in your hand even while recharging," he said.

May 22, 2015

smartphone shipments reached 81 million units in 2014, up 68.5% from 48 million in the previous year, according to Counterpoint Research. Chinese handset makers including Xiaomi and Gionee more than doubled their market to 13%. However the MNC's and global brands including Samsung and Nokia took the beating .. Indian handset makers led by Micromax gained.

Apple Xiaomi and Huawei was the biggest winner in Q1,2015 with a growth of more that 60 , 39%and 27%. respectively.In 2015 Samsung contributed 24% os smartphones shipped globally compared to 30% in 2014Q1 a drop of over 6% Meanwhile

Apple gained 3% and formed 18% of smartphone shipments in 2015 to be the number 2 brand after samsung

March 12, 2015

With Smartphone shipments reaching 107.5 million units between October and December 2014. The smartphone war in China has started to heated up.Global giants like Apple and Samsung will not find it easy going in this country as home grown local smartphone players are set to change the rules of the game and Samsung has already realized that very early .

In Q4,2014 Apple had 12% share of the Chinese smartphone market compared go 7% Q4,2013.., Huawei 11% compared to 10% a year ago and Lenovo's 10% compared to 13% a year ago.In the same time Samsung's marketshare stood at 8% compared to 19% in Q4,2013 which was a decline of 9%. Seldom has a market leader which happens to be a global No 1 smartphone brand seen its share decline to such extent in less than a year.Meanwhile In what may be the indicator of " disruptive changes in the Chinese Mobile Market,Xiaomi has become the no 1 smartphone brand in China with 14% marketshare . Home grown Xiaomi grew by 100% YoY in just under a year It had 7% marketshare in Q4,2013 which grew by 100% in Q4,2014..and looking closely its very clear. from where it has managed to keep growing at this pace.According to Canalys, Xiaomi sold 15 million smartphones in China during the second quarter, more than a three-fold surge from a year earlier and eve surpassed older rivals like Huawei and Lenovo.

August 5, 2014

When it comes to price, non can beat the Chinese, and quality that can " in the first glance beat all competitors hands down.

The Chinese smartphone market continues to play by its own rules according to data released by the Hong Kong based research firm Counterpoint. Unlike most Asian or European markets where Apple and Samsung is within striking distance , In china Samsung leads Apple by 8% ( 18 vs 10)

The rest are led by the Chinese manufacturers such as Lenovo, Xiaomi and Coolpad are quickly gaining market share with handsets sold at prices that the international competition,

China India, Indonesia and Philippines, are among the fastest growing markets, as US Europe Mobile shipments show decline. India as the world’s third largest smartphone market, had the highest growth in this segment in the Asia Pacific. The year-on-year smartphone shipment growth was 186 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, says IDC. A little over 30 million smartphones are now sold yearly in India

India’s mobile subscriber base is set to cross 696 million connections by the end of this year, according to a recent report published by Gartner. India is now the cynosure of all " smartphone manufacturers".The world biggest market is not on the radar screen of " the biggest and the smallest of players. India has been a market dominated by Nokia ( 2000 to 2006 ) and Samsung today holds sway.. until recently, when Micromax dislodged Samsung from no 1 spot , with 17% share of handsets

However the Indian market is among the most price sensitive in the world where,consumers will demand rock bottom price.. but will not compromise on quality.. In India the " masses " which consists of the brands between" Rs 3000 to 6500 " segment ... are the real battleground for the new Chinese low price handset makers.These and about a dozen Chinese handset brands, like Gionee, Lenovo, OPPO, Huawei, ZTE and Konka.have together taken a little more than 10 per cent of the Indian handset market in the past couple of years. The number was only one to two per cent about two years earlier.Beside the top eight Chinese Mobile brands which have already made their presence felt here, in India, another 45 — including Zopo, UMI, JiaYu, Mogu, Iocean and Meizu , MetoKiss,OPPr819— are working to tap the smartphone market here. As the market grows " Chinese brands are expected to take away about 8 to 10% of the market, where indian brands like Micromax have successfully dented Samsung .However, Micromax faces the biggest threat, as it thrives on low budget with frills, market..Samsung did not compete against Micromax on Price.. but on quality. Also the difference in terms of market share 16.7% against 14.5% is too small ....Even if the chinese phones takes away 5 to 7% of the mobile market share , it will make a dent in Micromax's fortunes as it works on a volume game .